No felony rap for Bronx G.I., but wife & hired gun are indicted

By CHRISENA COLEMAN

|DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER|

Aug 15, 2007 | 4:00 AM

The Bronx soldier accused of hiring a hit man to shoot him so he wouldn't have to return to active duty will be spared felony charges, but his wife and the gunman have been indicted by a grand jury, the Daily News has learned.

Army Pvt. Jonathan Aponte's tearful testimony about the atrocities of war won over the panel investigating the case, according to law enforcement sources.

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"I was hoping for the best, but preparing myself for the worst," Aponte, 21, told The News yesterday. "I am so happy that I was not indicted. I went into the grand jury and told the truth, and I think they had sympathy for me.

"I told the grand jury I just couldn't go back to Iraq after what I had experienced," he added. "I love my country and I wanted to serve, but I wasn't prepared to fight in the war or handle what I saw."

A spokesman for Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson declined to comment on the case, but Aponte still faces misdemeanor charges that could land him in jail for up toa year.

The couple have been free since their arrest last month. But Padilla is being held in lieu of $35,000 cash bond. Aponte returned to Fort Hood in Texas, where he is on medical leave and undergoing therapy. He has yet to face any disciplinary action by the Army.

When asked about his wife, he declined to comment.

Next month, he is scheduled to appear in Bronx Criminal Court on charges of falsely reporting an incident, which is a misdemeanor.

Aponte told police that after he told his wife he did not want to return to Iraq, he agreed to her suggestion that they hire a hit man to shoot him in the leg.

The G.I. was on a two-week leave in the Bronx after serving 10 months in Iraq when the couple allegedly hatched the scheme. He said he couldn't handle returning to Iraq after everything he had seen.

On July 9, the day he was to report to duty, Aponte was shot once in the leg by Padilla at Bronx Blvd. and E. Gun Hill Road. Doctors at the hospital reported the shooting to police, and the couple came clean after being grilled by cops.

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"The grand jury does have a sympathetic side," said Aponte's lawyer Marty Goldberg. "It would have been unduly harsh to indict him considering what he has already been through."

Aponte's mother, Gwen, said she is thankful and knows her son still has a long road in front of him.

"I am ecstatic and grateful that the people of New York had compassion for my son," said Gwen Aponte. "They understood his plight. My son is not well ... he isnot the same boy I sent to the Army."